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An aggressive black bear was shot and killed in a remote section of Denali National Park by park staffers on July 4... The black bear had threatened the life and safety of three park employees ... Three seasonal National Park Service technicians were conducting a botany field study along the remote river when a sub-adult black bear approached their camp ... The three tried to scare it away by yelling, waving their arms and throwing objects at the bear. After being chased off into dense brush, the bear circled back to the camp three or four times. At one point,...

A British man who was so amused with BBC1’s "Have I Got News for You" that he fell off his couch in a fit of laughter was not so happy when it got him arrested and pepper sprayed. Christopher Cocker, 36, collapsed on the floor after laughing at a joke on TV, but his neighbor who heard the thud thought something bad had happened and called the police, the Daily Mail reported on Wednesday. According to police, Cocker initially was cooperative but quickly became "aggressive" when asked his name and personal information. Cocker tried to shut his door on the...

BYU bear biologist Thomas S. Smith published a study on the effectiveness of bear spray for deterring aggressive bears. Here he is pictured with an unconscious "mother" polar bear - "If she were conscious, she'd be holding me," Smith said. Also found spray residue actually attracts bearsHikers and campers venturing into bear country this spring may be safer armed with 8-ounce cans of bear pepper spray than with guns, according to a new study led by a Brigham Young University bear biologist. Thomas S. Smith, associate professor of wildlife science, has conducted field work among bears for 16 years and...

The Australian Open erupted in ugly violence last night as police doused tennis fans with capsicum spray. Panic gripped Margaret Court Arena as spectators gasped for air after coming into contact with the spray. Many ran for the exits and the match had to be stopped. Police used the spray to try to subdue fans of Greek player Konstantinos Economidis who became upset when police tried to evict members of their cheer squad. Police believed they were leading racial chanting against Chile's Fernando Gonzalez. Women and children were also hit by the spray. One woman said she had suffered an...

WASHINGTON -- D.C. fire officials are investigating a hazardous material situation at an elementary school. Authorities were called to Walker-Jones Elementary School at 100 L St. in Northwest just before 10 a.m. on Tuesday in response to a report of a chemical odor in the building. Officials said that upon arriving, they found some kids complaining of respiratory problems and called for hazmat units. Fire Department spokesman Alan Etter said that 14 children and one faculty member were transported to a local hospital for respiratory irritation. None of the injuries is believed to be life-threatening. Officials said a pepper-spray type...

SUMMERFIELD, Fla. -- Children squirting pepper spray in a Wal-Mart store in Marion County may have caused 30 people to become violently ill and prompted the evacuation of nearly 700 customers and employees, according to Marion County officials. A 911 call was made by a Wal-Mart manager Wednesday afternoon after he noticed many people coughing and choking in the store. The same manager also reported that a similar incident occurred Tuesday night during the call. When emergency workers arrived, several people reported having trouble breathing and the number quickly escalated. Eight people were transported to hospitals for evaluation and many...

The resort town of Mount Crested Butte is giving away free pepper spray after several women reported being assaulted. Police spokeswoman Julia Shirk said 200 spray key chains were ordered and about 30 women have come by to pick one up. Shirk said that even though it is a small town, people feel safer carrying the pepper spray, especially with the ski season approaching and thousand of out-of-towners will be visiting.

Eighteen Indonesian prisoners broke out of jail using an unusual weapon - the chilli pepper. Prisoners at Pematang Sinatar jail in Sumatra mixed hot chillies with water in plastic bottles to spray at guards. The fiery liquid temporarily blinded the guards, allowing prisoners to grab their keys and make the break for freedom. Sixteen of the inmates had now been recaptured, a police official said, but two were still on the run. The men were meant to be on their way to breakfast but instead stormed the prison gate, Detective Den Martin told the Associated Press news agency. They were...

Fort Lauderdale, Fla. - A high-ranking sheriff's officer apologized Wednesday for insensitive comments he and other officers made about demonstrators after a free speech summit in 2003 in Miami. The comments wound up in a police-training video produced a day later. The video shows Maj. John Brooks and other officers praising each other for shooting protesters with rubber bullets. "Looking back at the tape, in hindsight, I shouldn't have said those things," Brooks said in a report published Wednesday night on The Miami Herald's Web site. Broward County Sheriff's officials said no one would face disciplinary action in connection with...

OLYMPIA, Washington — Police fired pepper spray as about 150 anti-war protesters tried to enter the Port of Olympia as part of ongoing demonstrations against the shipment of Army equipment to Iraq. Protesters chanted "Out of Olympia, Out of Iraq" as they rocked a chain-link gate to the port late Monday, and at least three tried to use wooden boards to pry the gate open, The Olympian newspaper reported. A 50-ton piece of equipment was moved to reinforce the gate on the other side. Police and sheriff's deputies clad in riot gear fired at least four rounds of pepper spray...

Security Director First Sprayed Pepper SprayDES MOINES, Wash. -- A police officer used a TASER gun on a student to break up a fight between two juniors at Mount Rainier High School in Des Moines Thursday. The Highline School District's director of security was in the high school when the fight broke out in the school cafeteria at 7:30 a.m. The first time the two students fighting ignored the security director's orders to stop fighting, he sprayed them with pepper spray. When that didn't stop the fight, the school's resource officer took out a TASER gun and jolted one of...

FRiends, I live in Thailand. Every couple of years I like to get a fresh couple of cannisters of Mace or pepper spray. I used to order from the USA, but suppliers will no longer send through the mail, and I don't know anyone in the USA that would do that for me. Pepper spray is legal in Canada in limited form (for protection against bears and dogs only!) and I do have someone there that will send it to me, but it is tough to find. After a couple of hours on the web I could only find one...

SAVANNAH, Ga. - Angry that his truck had been towed, a 64-year-old man was arrested at a busy intersection while walking on his way to get it back - with a loaded rifle. Savannah-Chatham County police said officers spotted Floyd Goldwire with the gun in his hand Thursday walking through rush-hour traffic at the crowded commercial intersection of Bull Street and DeRenne Avenue. Two officers drew their guns and confronted Goldwire, police said, but he refused to drop his rifle. "He just wouldn't give up the gun," said Sgt. Ashley Brown, a precinct shift supervisor. "He wasn't threatening anyone, but...

A mob scene unfolded at Oceanside High School on Mission Avenue Wednesday morning when about 200 students tried to leave campus, only to be blocked by police officers toting pepper-spray pellet guns and wearing riot gear. The scene at the campus subsided as school let out this afternoon and protesting students headed for the Oceanside Bandshell at the beach. Three boys have been arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly throwing chunks of concrete at officers during the incident at the school. Tensions arose at the school just before noon, when several hundred students tried to...

THE OTTAWA Police Firearms Task Force yesterday swooped down on a Navan Rd. homeowner suspected of having a cache of illegal weapons, shot him and his dog with a Taser and left without finding any weapons. Yvon Richer says he was returning from an early-morning snowmobile ride on his 50-acre property in the city's southeast end at around 9:15 a.m. when a vehicle pulled into the driveway and a voice behind him screamed, "Get on the ground!" He looked back at a police officer with his weapon drawn and as many as 40 others, some of them in tactical gear,...

An FBI sweep launched in Puerto Rico to prevent a "domestic terrorist attack" is eliciting widespread outrage on the island - and as far away as New York City - with critics accusing the agency of trying to use terrorism as a guise to turn public opinion against Puerto Rico's independence movement. The Friday morning raid on the U.S. commonwealth, which targeted five private homes and one business, was launched to prevent attacks from the Boricua Popular Army, the FBI said. The special agent in charge of the San Juan Division of the FBI, Luis Fraticelli, said the searches were...

DALLAS- A Peruvian citizen living in North Texas died Friday morning, two weeks after a struggle with two Allen police officers who the department said used pepper spray when the man resisted arrest. Edgar Vera, 45, had been on life support in a McKinney hospital, which had orders from his relatives not to resuscitate him, said family attorney Steve Salazar of Dallas. Salazar said no lawsuit has been filed against Allen police. He plans to await autopsy results and medical records from the incident. A cousin, Luis Pacchioni, said once the Collin County Medical Examiner's Office completes its autopsy, the...

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Baton Rouge police officers used stun guns on innocent people, hit handcuffed suspects and damaged cars and other personal property during patrols after Hurricane Katrina doubled the city's population, according to New Mexico State Police. In addition to a complaint filed with Louisiana authorities in September, the agency plans to ask the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate, said Peter Olson, spokesman for the New Mexico Department of Public Safety. His department and Michigan State Police had not given details about why they pulled out of Baton Rouge after patrols Sept. 9 and 10. Olson...

Top Local Stories Elkhart Officer’s Gun, Taser Stolen From Car (WSBT) A number of car break-ins in Elkhart County have police concerned, especially after the latest victim was one of their own. An Elkhart Police officer's semi-automatic rifle and his taser were stolen from his personal car overnight Wednesday in northern Elkhart County. It's a .223 caliber rifle, it's intended for law enforcement only,” said Capt. Tom Love of the Elkhart Police Department. “it's a great concern that it's out there. Obviously we want to get the gun back.” Since September, county police have taken 60 reports of car break-ins...

As the State Street crowd turned suddenly riotous early Sunday morning, police resorted to the use of pepper spray to quell the horde of Halloween revelers for the fourth year in a row. Madison’s Halloween tradition is now in jeopardy, as indicated by a release Sunday from Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and Police Chief Noble Wray, which raised serious questions about the future of the event. Discussions to cancel the event or limit it are expected to ensue over the course of next year.

PITTSBURGH - Police charged four people protesting the war in Iraq, two of whom suffered minor injuries from the police response, when 60 people disrupted traffic by marching the wrong way down a busy one-way street toward an Army recruiting station. The Pittsburgh Organizing Group planned the Saturday morning demonstration. A spokesman for that group, David Meieran, accused police of responding with "inappropriate and excessive force." Meieran claimed some protesters were pepper sprayed and Tasered; he said a 68-year-old woman who was not resisting was bitten by a police dog. Police spokeswoman Tammy Ewin initially said no pepper spray was...

Pepper spray still illegal 27 May 2005 CAMDEN Police are warning women that carrying pepper spray in self-defence is still illegal. Two girls - an American and German - have recently received cautions after the spray was found in their handbags. One of the girls was trying to get into Koko's nightclub in Mornington Crescent, while the other was stopped and searched in the street. Both said they carried it for their own protection and didn't realise it was an offence in this country. Although widely available in America, pepper spray is classed as a firearm in the UK and...

PONDERAY, Idaho — A woman was arrested on a child endangerment charge after an infant was doused with pepper spray in a feud between two families in a Wal-Mart (search), police said The 2-month-old baby was recovering after being sprayed Monday with the oleoresin capsicum (search) solution, which is derived from chili peppers, police Chief Mike Hutter said. Lorlie M. Gantenbein, 36, was charged Tuesday with felony injury to a child. Bail was set at $5,000. The altercation apparently started earlier at a gas station, but both groups met later at the discount store, Hutter said. Police reports indicate Gantenbein's...

After eight years and three trials, a group of protesters whose eyes were swabbed with pepper spray during a series of anti-logging demonstrations finally won their case Thursday against Humboldt County sheriff's deputies and Eureka police -- but were awarded only $1 each in damages. A federal jury deliberated for about 12 hours starting Tuesday before returning its verdict, finding that law enforcement had used excessive force while trying to break up three different protests in the fall of 1997, including one at then-Rep. Frank Riggs' Eureka office and another at the Scotia headquarters of the Pacific Lumber Co. It...

SAN FRANCISCO - Law enforcement officers from two northern California counties were found liable Thursday for using excessive force by swabbing pepper spray in the eyes of logging protesters in 1997. A jury awarded eight plaintiffs $1 each. It was the third trial in the case; the first two ended in deadlocked juries in 1998 and 2004. The plaintiffs laughed and hugged outside the courtroom — and applauded when jurors left their chambers. "They did the right thing," said Terri Slanetz, a 42-year-old naturalist from Oakland. "We've been trying all along to get a statement that this was illegal. It's...

An irate Andover housewife was freed without bail on assault charges after a case of snowball rage allegedly prompted her to chase down some kids with a tire iron and a can of pepper spray. Among the victims was a high school student who reportedly was an innocent bystander who just asked her to move her car. ``(Maria) Needs told him to say one more thing and he would see what would happen and she was waving the metal bar at him,'' read a police report. ``(He) said something sarcastic and at this time, Mrs. Needs sprayed him with pepper...

This is a funny voice mail: http://mfile.akamai.com/5022/wma/coast.download.akamai.com/5022/clips/05/02/020305_incident.asx

NEW YORK Oct 30, 2004 — A member of rapper Jay-Z's entourage released pepper spray at R. Kelly during a joint concert at Madison Square Garden, Kelly's publicist said. The spraying happened about an hour into Friday night's show, when Kelly walked on stage and said he saw two people in the audience waving guns, publicist Allan Mayer said. Kelly abruptly stopped his set around 9:30 p.m. while arena security employees searched for weapons. Finding none, guards told Kelly it was safe to continue performing, Mayer said. But as the singer was making his way back to the stage, a...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - A man who fought with several people and bit a bystander died after sheriff's deputies used pepper spray on him, authorities said. An autopsy was scheduled to determine the cause of death. Callers told a dispatcher Friday afternoon that a man was behaving erratically, Broward County sheriff's spokeswoman Liz Calzadilla said. Deputies and paramedics found Derek T. Kendrick struggling with neighbors who were trying to hold him down, Calzadilla said. He "was extremely combative and when deputies got closer to try to restrain him, he turned and bit a bystander," Calzadilla said. The deputies used...

In response to a big increase in violent crimes against women in upscale Massachusetts towns, some thousands of good Liberals have decided maybe the Beatles were wrong and have applied to carry pepper spray/mace. Surprise! In The Peoples Republic of Massachusetts, pepper spray is considered a lethal weapon and before it can be purchased or carried, a person must beg her local police department for a firearms license. The approval typically takes 2-3 months, and upon being granted the licnese, the woman's personal information becomes public record, to whit: Name, address, marital status ("I live alone"), mother's maiden name, prior...

Getting pepper spray in Massachusetts has never been easy. New fees make it even harder. Will local legislators help make the Bay State the 'spray state?' In theory, buying a can of pepper spray isn't really all that hard. In most parts of the country, getting hold of such self-defense sprays poses little challenge for citizens of legal age with $20 in their pocket and a desire to temporarily incapacitate any shady character that comes too close. Having a relatively speedy Internet connection helps, too. By just typing the words "pepper spray" into any Internet search engine, dozens of self-defense-related...

Only in Massachusetts. Can you imagine copyrighting that? You'd make a fortune. The most recent example comes from the string of horrible attacks here in the local area: two attempted rapes and two actual rapes in three different towns, Westborough, Hopkinton and Framingham. Police are working on the assumption that it's the same man, of slender build and with a Spanish accent. And because the attacks have occurred at apartment complexes, police told me yesterday they are also aggressively pursuing the possibility that the assailant works for a local lawn care company or one of the maintenance crews that takes...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A deputy used pepper spray on a 12-year-old girl and wrestled her to the ground when she ignored repeated orders to stop jaywalking, the sheriff's office said Friday. Broward County sheriff's deputy Michael Roberto was issuing jaywalking tickets to students crossing a busy highway Thursday when he asked the girl to stand next to his motorcycle so he could give her a citation, the deputy's report said. But the girl, who was not immediately identified, became upset and began to curse, Roberto said in the report. The girl also walked away and ignored four more orders...

Tear Gas May Violate Treaties Associated Press March 02, 2003 SAN FRANCISCO - Army Maj. Gen. David Grange is proud to have ordered his troops to use tear gas on hostile Serb crowds in Bosnia six years ago. "We didn't kill anyone," said the now-retired Grange. "It saved lives." His only complaint was that red tape prevented him from using tear gas more often. The Pentagon is drafting guidelines under which American solders could use riot control agents such as tear gas and pepper spray in Iraq to control unruly prisoners and separate enemy soldiers from civilians, Defense Secretary Donald...

Attorneys for Humboldt County reject bid by activists; retrial set to begin May 12 in Eureka February 4, 2003 Anti-logging activists have offered to drop a costly federal civil rights lawsuit against Humboldt County authorities if they agree to ban use of pepper spray on protesters who refuse to voluntarily surrender for arrest. But attorneys for defendants in the case said Monday they're prepared to go ahead with retrial of the contentious case that drew national attention. During protests in 1997 at the Eureka office of former Rep. Frank Riggs, R-Windsor, and at Pacific Lumber Co. headquarters in Scotia, nine...

A massive police response to a report of a riotnear a Roslyn Heights community center left residents angry yesterday and questioning a police policy of using anti-terrorism tactics against what locals said was a peaceful gathering of people for a baby shower. Residents said the incident started with a simple verbal argument between a man and a woman as the shower ended about 7:30 p.m. Saturday. It ended amid clouds of pepper spray after about 50 police officers from four precincts, including mounted police, highway patrol officers, a helicopter and Nassau's Bureau of Special Operations, mobilized when a police sergeant...

Girls attack Muni bus driver BY RICHARD BYRNE REILLY Of The Examiner Staff Six teenage girls upset that a Muni driver ordered them off the bus at the end of the route so he could take a break wound up attacking him and spraying him in the eyes with pepper spray. "It's a weird case for sure," said Officer Larry Bertrand, one of the first cops to respond to the scene in Potrero Hill. Driver Phillip Taylor was halfway through his shift Wednesday night when he decided to take a break at the end of the bus route, which is...

Middle East - AP Teen Girls Arrested for Pepper Spray Tue Aug 27, 3:47 PM ET LONDON (AP) - Two teenage girls were arrested Tuesday after allegedly using pepper spray on a flight from Dublin to London, police said. The 16-year-old Italians — part of a 24-student school trip — were met by officers as the bmi british midland flight landed at Heathrow Airport. Five people, including passengers and crew members, were treated by an airport ambulance crew for the effects of the spray, but none required hospital treatment, a Metropolitan Police spokesman said. The two students were not believed...

PORTLAND, Oregon - Riot police used pepper spray and struck some demonstrators with batons after ordering hundreds of people to leave a protest near a hotel where President George W. Bush ( news - web sites) attended a fund-raiser. Protesters hammered on the hoods of police cars as pepper spray wafted through the air. Protesting Bush's foreign policy, they chanted "Drop Bush, Not Bombs." Bush supporters in formal attire were jostled and taunted by protesters as they arrived for a fund-raiser for the re-election campaign of U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith ( news, bio, voting record). After elbowing through the demonstrators,...

A King County deputy was shot and killed Saturday in a confrontation with a naked man on a busy arterial in the suburban Newcastle area. A suspect was arrested about an hour later. "The deputy's gun was used to shoot the deputy several times,'' Sheriff Dave Reichert said. The officer responded to a report of a naked man disturbing traffic in the 7300 block of Coal Creek Parkway, said spokesman Greg Dymerski of the King County Sheriff's Department. At one point during the struggle, Dymerski said the officer used pepper spray in an attempt to stop the suspect. The deputy...

The sole remaining lawsuit that grew out of a tree-cutting protest in downtown Eugene five years ago was settled out of court Thursday with a $30,000 city payment to three demonstrators who were pepper-sprayed by police. In the settlement, neither side admitted wrongdoing. But the city agreed to require all officers with the rank of sergeant and above to attend two training sessions on police response to nonviolent protests. The sessions are to be conducted by an outside consultant in 2003 and 2004. Spokesmen for both sides said the protest and its turbulent aftermath taught them bitter lessons but left...

    Remembering June 1stCould the pepper spraying and tree cutting happen again?By Alan PittmanFive years ago, the city of Eugene was in such a rush to start building the Broadway Place project that they roasted tree sitter Jim Flynn alive, dousing him with can after can of pepper spray while he dangled 40 feet up in a tree. Early on a Sunday morning, police in a fire truck rescue bucket cut Flynn's pants to his crotch to expose more flesh, allowing the spray to burn his genitals and anus. Officers punched Flynn in the arms and ribs over...